


How He Found His Angel

by KittycatthelilDevil



Series: Teach Me To Live [1]
Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux, Phantom - Susan Kay, Phantom of the Opera (2004), Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber, The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
Genre: But Christine is cool with it, Christine is a small child, Christine is kind of annoying, Erik has his issues, Erik is 12-14, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24035314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittycatthelilDevil/pseuds/KittycatthelilDevil
Summary: She was a faint hunched over grey blop when he first saw her through all the wind and snow blurring his vision, he had to step closer, squint and focus hard before he could actually see her. She could be no older than five or six years old judging by her small size, he pressed his lips into a line as he noticed the child was wearing nothing but a flimsy excuse for a nightgown. It told him she most definitely hadn’t planned on coming out her
Relationships: Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera
Series: Teach Me To Live [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733803
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	How He Found His Angel

She was a faint hunched over grey blop when he first saw her through all the wind and snow blurring his vision, he had to step closer, squint and focus hard before he could actually see her. She could be no older than five or six years old judging by her small size, he pressed his lips into a line as he noticed the child was wearing nothing but a flimsy excuse for a nightgown. It told him she most definitely hadn’t planned on coming out here. It wouldn’t be wise if he went over there, and he tried assuring himself that someone was bound to find her soon, even at his young age he had learnt if her guardians saw him near her, he would be in a lot of trouble. 

Though that didn’t stop him from watching her from afar just to make sure she would be found soon, just because he was a monster didn’t mean he was heartless. His heart drummed against his rib cage in wild worry, why wasn’t anybody coming for her? She would die out here! Were her parents just that oblivious?...Did she have any parents?

That idea probably wasn’t far from the truth, why else would she be out here, if she was in an orphanage or a foster home he wouldn’t be surprised if she was a run away, it was a common thing he would know. He bit down on his lip as her young weak body shuddered violently against the cold, she would not be able to take this torture for much longer. His first step towards her was shaky, unconfident, and he almost slipped over the icy ground. He looked around the area quickly just to be sure nobody was near.

Her hair was whipping harshly into her face, “P-papa…-Papa!” She whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to try and get warm, trying to find the same comfort her father would give her if he were here right now. If papa was there everything would be alright, he would hug her and hold her and keep her safe. But her papa wasn’t there, he would never come back and that was the hard truth she just had to face. 

It was impossible to see anything ahead of her only blurs of white and grey flying around to create a fog like setting. She shivered, kneeling down in the snow when her knees started burning numbly against the cold. Her head felt...hazy, and her stomach was getting tight. The feeling made her shudder, and it only got worse when she squeezed her eyes shut in attempt to control the dizziness. 

Eriks heart almost pounded right out of his chest when he saw her fall limply into the snow below. He started running to her, wind howling in his ears gritting his teeth when he slid forward with a hiss as his leg was pulled into an uncomfortable stretch. 

He was quick to slide the cloak off, kneeling down to bring her fragile figure into his arms, he was glad she was not awake. If she was, he would have a hard time getting her out of the storm. The wind would have sent his cloak flying had he not kept a tight hold on it wrapping it around her frozen body. He held her close, trying to keep out as much of the wind as he could.

. . . 

The catacombs were dark and twisted in every corner, every twist and turn broke a fragment of the mind. But he had learnt the way to the lake. Though he was still working on getting through the rest of the maze. He set her down onto one of the large rugs on the ground. He wasn’t going to leave her there of course, he simply needed to light a few candles, even if he could see in the dark the light made it easier and he had no reason to hide at the moment, he didn’t think she’d wake any time soon.

He gathered up some heavy blankets he was provided with, given how cold it got down here. Now medicine was something he was a little short on, it wasn’t easy to find it and doctors weren’t going to just hand it out to anyone. Alcohol might be a little strong for her, but the stage workers left it everywhere leaving him to trip over and break glass bottles onto the stage long after everyone was gone, if he diluted it she should be fine considering it was all he had and he would have to treat her quickly.

He kneeled down next to her, sliding a hand under her back to push her up off the rug. Her face scrunched uncomfortably as her head fell forward and she whined, but didn’t wake. He wrapped a blanket around her small frame with care, taking her back into his arms to carry her into another room, a bedroom of sorts. 

Laying her down onto the bed, he pulled the blankets off her feet, the area where frostbite would likely be as she had been barefoot in the snow for god knows how long. He frowned when he was met with the sight of her red swollen toes, her tiny foot twitched and her breath hitched just slightly. Erik left the room in search of supplies. 

Having readied a basin of warm water and a bottle he placed them down on the floor next to him, dipping an old rag he’d found over a chair into the basin. Cautiously he tapped her foot with the warm rag just to see how she would react, the sudden action to her numbing skin made her shudder and wriggle before settling down again. 

Hasily bringing the rag back to the red inflamed skin, he pushed it gently over her little toes. He held her ankles down when she tried moving her foot away, his eyes were taken off her feet when her breathing grew heavy again. “”P-...papa...papa please..”

Erik blinked, unsure of what else to do besides keeping the rag over her toes as she started to squirm under his hold. “Pa-Papa!” She cried, her eyes fluttered open. She must’ve been startled by his hands on her ankles as her head turned from side to side and then up in a stressful attempt to find anything through the darkness. “H-Hey! Stay still, it’s okay!” He told her. 

“Dark! It’s too dark!” she whimpered, “I-Its okay...But I need you to stay still..” He said in awe, her voice was so...graceful even in a panicked state he couldn’t help but pause, playing her voice over in his head. She was a mere child! How could such a young voice be so spellbounding? He stood up, eagerly taking a box of matches out of his pocket. She visibly relaxed when the familiar strike of the match hit her ears, she turned to the sound.

His shadowy figure went around the room lighting candle after candle. She examined the room with interest, then looking over to Erik having not gotten the chance to see him in the light. He could feel her gaze on him, it made his skin prickle in disgust and his stomach was pooling with a strong feeling of anxiety, memories of people laughing and taunting him as the whip slashed his body harder and harder with each hit. He hated being stared at, she was only a child and couldn’t help it, so he tried his best to ignore it. He turned to face her, and she blinked when she saw him, “Why do you wear a mask?” 

His throat went dry, he said nothing, only dropping down at her feet taking the rag off to dip in the water again. “I am Erik.” Was all he said, she sat back with a huff edged off with annoyance, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I do not need to answer any questions.” Came his cold reply, “I am Erik. Now, what is you name?” she was tempted to simply not answer, she didn’t have to tell him anything. But when he turned to give her a spine chilling glare she shrunk, “What is your name?” he asked again.

In those few seconds of glaring, he watched the way her pretty green eyes went wide just from his altered tone, her skin was pale. Not a bad pale, a creamy milky pale, a nice shade that blended perfectly with her flushed cheeks, her hair was curly brown that was hanging just below her shoulders, she was practically a living doll. She was perfect.

“C-Christine…” Her voice was small, somehow he still found it to be graceful, and he had to keep her talking, he had to hear her. Her voice was giving him a fuzzy almost...floaty feeling, the corners of his mouth would twitch as if he wanted to smile, something he despised. Though he would never admit it, he liked the feeling very much, it put him at ease, relaxed him. His interest was hooked immediately at the thought of what she might sound like if she was to sing. Yes. Sing, sing for him and him only.

“Why were you out in the snow?” Christine sat back in the bed with a sigh, he glanced briefly up at her again. His eyes going wide when he saw her pulling carelessly on her curls, she would ruin her hair if she did that! He was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread, he had to keep her perfect! 

He snatched her wrist, yanking it away from her hair, the move was so suddenly made he had barely put any thought into how hard he might’ve done it. He never spent much time with people. Not any time that could even begin to be considered ‘nice’, countless hours of torment molded his mind into thinking pain was the only way to do things. Christine gasped at the unexpected pull, “Stop,” He hissed, that only resulted in a small gulp from her. In a moments silence he pulled away, eyes growing soft and he gave her an apologetic look. Christine didn’t know what to do, he looked like he was sorry, was this a trick of some sort? Her bottom lip was quivering silently. “Y-You’ll ruin your hair if you do that…”

Christine didn’t answer, she was paralyzed in fear. Scared if she made any wrong moves he’d snap again. He drew away from her, focusing his attention back on her foot. Christine hesitated for a while before she thought just maybe she could speak.

“M-My papa...he…” Her words tailing off into a silent stare down at her feet. Erik sighed, nodding slowly. Her unfinished sentence told him she was alone now, “I see. Where are you staying, I would like to get you home as soon as possible.” He didn’t miss the way her foot tensed beneath his palm and she inhaled sharply.

“...Or, would you rather not go back?”

She came to a pause, she fixated her gaze on him. She gave a slow nod, and he sighed. He was surprised she still let him near her, shouldn’t she have kicked and screamed and tried to run from such a monster? Even if she hadn’t seen him, that was no doubt what she thought of him to be.

Christine watched as he took the rag away from her foot, putting it back into the basin below. “Why-...why do you have to do that?” She asked, Erik looked up at her slightly surprised that she was still talking to him, “Uhh...you have a bit of f-frostbite so I have to slowly warm your feet back up..” 

“Well, why can’t you just up them in front of a fire or something? Wouldn’t that be easier?” Erik almost wanted to roll his eyes at her foolishness, “No, you need to do it gradually. If you were to put them in front of a fire it might break up blood vessels and such.”

“How?” 

Erik groaned, “Why do you keep asking such childish questions?” Christine tilted her head, “Why can’t you just warm my feet up with a fire?” Eriks head fell onto the edge of the bed.

“Because it doesn’t work that way!”

. . .

After a very LONG explanation of how frostbite works Christine finally stopped asking, he knew his annoyance was quite humorous to her, as whenever he’d ask if she understood it, she’d simply shrug saying she wasn’t sure leading him to explain it all over again.

“No!” She growled, head falling back to avoid the bottle he held out to her. “Christine please! It’ll numb the pain.”

“But it smells gross!” She stuck her tongue out.

“Christine this isn’t a game, now take it!” 

Christine bit her lip, she hesitated for a long moment before she gave a stern nod. Erik slowly brought the bottle up to her lips, Christine nearly gagged as the bitter taste washed over her mouth.

She swallowed quickly, gasping for air when he pulled the bottle away. “T-That was just cruel...” She grumbled.

. . . 

As Erik turned to look up at Christine, having been lost in deep thought of what he was to do with her now. Engrossed by the idea of keeping her with him, nobody would know about it, besides what else was he to do with her? He would not leave her all alone again such a young innocent mind would not see fit to the harshness of the world. He wanted to guard Christine from it all, everything he had been through, everything she was going to go through alone if he let her go. He noticed her slumped back against the head of the bed, eyes closed and breathing softly.

It was then his lips curled into a small smile, “oh, Christine…” He made a small noise of amusement when she whined, shaking her head. “M’still...awake..” she grumbled. “Barely.” He chuckled. Christine didn’t hear him, she sunk down in the bed, Erik took the covers laying them over her feet he could treat them again tomorrow if he had to. For now she needed all the rest she could get. 

He stood up, turning to leave the room when he felt a weak yet compelling tug on his arm, he looked back at Christine with a perplexed face, she was now sat up in bed obviously fighting to stay awake. “D-Don’t leave I-...I don’t want to be alone..” Erik could feel his heart melt as she spoke hoarsely, any thoughts of letting her go were forgotten completely as he made his way back to the bed.

“I-I won’t leave if you don’t want me to.” His voice was small and soft. He couldn’t believe this small child had lulled him to such a volume of speaking, he never spoke so gently! He was the opera ghost! He fell to his knees when she gave a small smile in his direction. Oh dear god what was this child doing to his heart?

“Will you lie down with me?” She asked.

Erik would have declined in a heartbeat, she would not make the opera ghost do anything else. But the eyes she was looking at him with...they were wide and sparkling, it made his chest swell in a manner he was strangely fond of. “Fine…” He muttered, climbing into the opposite side of the bed. 

Doing his best to keep as far away from her as possible proved to be a challenge as she had wrapped both of her arms around his, nuzzling against him carelessly. He cringed not used to such affection, he turned his head away from her to hide his flushing cheek. Though she fell asleep in minutes he made no attempts to move away from her, he found himself staring at her, she-she was comfortable enough to practically cuddle him! Oh how that made him feel so...happy. Knowing someone could look past all his imperfections even after having just met him, and simply see Erik for Erik.

True, they hardly knew each other, but it was clear they were both at ease when in the others presence. He would not let his angel go. Yes, that was what she was, she was his angel. And nobody was to lay a finger on her, he would protect her, even if he had to lay his own life down to do so.

. . .


End file.
